Carstens, ASMUS JAKOB

Carstens, ASMUS JAKOB, a Danish artist, the reviver of art in Germany, was born near Sleswick, May 10, 1754. Apprentice for five years to a wine-merchant, in 1776 he went to Copenhagen to study art; for five years (1783-88) barely supported himself by portrait-painting in Lübeck; and after settling in Berlin, had two years to pass in pinching poverty before his great composition, the 'Fall of the Angels' (with 200 figures), gained him an appointment as professor in the Academy, employment from the court, and a pension. He was now enabled to visit Rome, where he devoted himself to the study of the works of Michael Angelo and Raphael; and his influence in elevating later German art, and in inducing a keener study of these masters, cannot be too highly estimated. His numerous drawings mostly represented scenes from the ancient classic poets, with subjects from Shakespeare and Ossian. Having broken with the Berlin Academy, he died in the deepest poverty at Rome, May 25, 1798. See his Life by Fernow (1806; new ed. 1867), and works by Schöne (1866) and Sach (1881).